Rebekah Vardy has revealed that the Wagatha Christie drama drove her to “question the point of existing” after facing backlash from the scandal.
The reality star made headlines in 2019 when former friend Coleen Rooney accused her to leaking stories about her to the press, having planted “false” stories on her private Instagram Story to work out which of her ‘Close Friends’ followers was behind it.
“After years of my personal instagram posts getting leaked to the SUN newspaper…..I’ve finally cracked it and know exactly who’s [sic] account is is !!!!” Rooney wrote at the time, before ending her post with the now-famous phrase: “It’s… Rebekah Vardy’s account.”
The claim resulted in Vardy facing a huge public backlash, with the wife of footballer Jamie Vardy suing Rooney for libel but ultimately losing her case in 2022.
Speaking to The Times about her feud with Rooney, Vardy admitted: “There were times when I questioned the point of existing. I didn’t want to be here any more.
“It was a horrendous time. What got me through was the life we have together and our children. Always the kids. They are our world.”
In her upcoming ITV reality series, The Vardys, the WAG reveals that after Rooney’s accusation, a pregnant Vardy received messages from people calling her a “fat ugly rat” and another from someone wishing that her baby would die.
“Inside I feel like a ticking time bomb,” she says in the show, which follows her family’s move to Italy. “If I hadn’t been as strong as I am, I probably wouldn’t be here today.”
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Vardy also addressed the offer to settle that she was given by Rooney during the libel proceedings, saying that she was treated “worse than a paedophile”.
“There was an offer from the other side, not from my side. Look, it doesn’t benefit anyone to talk about it all again,” she said.
“I will only do that if I can make a legal documentary about the flaws in that whole bollocks. I was treated worse than a paedophile and for what? Was it that important? Was it in the public interest?”
She went on to claim that Rooney’s barrister, David Sherborne, “bullied” her in court – and spoke about her misunderstanding about Davy Jones’s locker during the case. After Rooney’s team alleged that Vardy’s agent Caroline Watt had intentionally lost her phone by dropping it into the sea, Sherborne asked Vardy: “We know that Miss Watt’s phone is now in Davy Jones’s locker, don’t we, Mrs Vardy?” To which she replied: “I’m sorry, I don’t know who Davy Jones is.”
“I’m not stupid but I’d never heard of Davy Jones’s locker before,” she told the publication. “That doesn’t make me thick.”
As for the case, Vardy said that she doesn’t think she “will ever get over it” but “can move on from it”.
In July 2022, Vardy lost her libel case against Rooney after a judge found that the wife of footballer Wayne Rooney had proven that her claims about Vardy were “substantially true”. As a result, she was ordered to pay £1.8m to cover 90 per cent of Rooney’s legal costs – a ruling she unsuccessfully challenged last year.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that Vardy still won’t apologise for the Wagatha Christie scandal. “I’m never, ever, going to apologise for something I didn’t do… Hell will freeze over before I do that,” she says in the documentary.
“t’s over, it’s done, I’m not going to carry on living in the past. I’m so f***ing bored of it.”
If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.